Australian_Geographic_-_February_2016_

January. February 15

Wave riders

ABOUT 100M from Sharky

Beach, on the NSW Illawarra

Coast, waves break both ways

over a seaweed-smothered

reef, generating masses of

aerated foam. Chris captured

this image of surfers at

midday with his GoPro and

drone. Although dawn and

dusk are often favoured by

photographers, Chris prefers

the abstract results when the

sun is directly over the water.

“When you’re up 30m high

at this time of day, the colours

are more vibrant,” he says.

“It looks as if the surfers are

riding over a carpet of grass.”

by Chris Duczynski

Big picture

Brass razoo/rahzoo

[Not worth a]

WITH FRANK POVAH

THIS IS an interesting

phrase of unknown

origin. Never used in the

positive sense (“It only

cost a brass razoo”), it

indicates worthlessness or the state of

being absolutely flat, stony broke – “I

haven’t got a brass razoo”. None of my

references can pin down its origin. The

fact it first appeared in print in about

1919 suggests it may have come to

Australia with troops returning from

WWI, but this is mere speculation on

my part. I don’t hear it much anymore

and, like so much of our once-rich

dialect, it seems to be disappearing.

WATCH Use the free viewa
app to scan this page and see
Chris Duczynski’s aerial foot-
age of Sharky Beach surfers.